To mark this special 200th episode, MJ allowed me to review it! Since MJ is on vacation with family, I’m filling in for him.

So last week we saw Mayuri and Szayel almost ending their dragged out fight. And it did, quite painfully for Szayel. The thing that Szayel was drugged with was a special concoction of Mayuri’s that heightens the 5 senses at superhuman speeds. Since the rest of the body can’t keep up, the person being affected feels everything slowed down. I don’t know how Einstein’s theory of relativity would hold out here, but then real world physics never were on top of the priority list for shonen animes.

So what all that crap Mayuri spewed basically means is that Szayel dies a very slow ass, well deserved, painful death.

When Renji asks, quite selfishly, that Mayuri heals him before Ishida in order to help Ichigo, Mayuri says that there’s no need for that as Kenpachi is there. He then goes on a glorifying monologue about how a monster like Kenpachi doesn’t need help and anyone who stands in his way will get annihilated.

After exchaging a few words and blows with Nnoitra, Kenpachi finally get’s him.

Psyche!

After this nasty surprise, Nnoitra returns the favour to Kenpachi and spends the next 2 minutes explaining how Kenpachi couldn’t get him because he stabbed him in the hole in his head.

But this is not the end, cos Zaraki has yet to show the ace up his sleeve.

This was my first Bleach episode since the filler started in Hueco Mundo way back when. And I was just as dissapointed now as I was back then. These guys just have to stop bullshitting around and get to the meat of the story. I’m not saying that they show fights all the time. I’m just saying that they do better editing. Why the lame ass Nemu scene followed by the extremely irritating Pesche and bro comeback? Comedy relief? Was the previous scene actually dark enough for something like this? And why the hell was Nnoitra spending so much time explaining to Kenpachi that the reason he didn’t kill was becuase his sword went through the fucking hole in his head! Jesus bitch! We got it the first damn time!

I’m partly to blame for my impatience to be honest. I’ve read the manga up to what the next 2 or 3 episodes will cover. Beyond that, everything is new territory to me. That said, I still can’t believe that regular viewers don’t feel the agitation of the painstakingly slow process of the story’s progression in each episode. It’s like the studios are treating us like Szayel!

And that weaksauce fight between Kenpachi and Nnoitra? I remember fondly back in the Soul Society arc days, when the mere hint of Zaraki Kenpachi meant epic wins! His bloodlust in a fight and utter insanity is what made him so great. WTF was this shit? Two of the most (physically) powerful characters face off against each other and this paltry 8 minute excuse of animation is what we get? Oh, and the ace up Kenpachi’s sleeve I mentioned above? Prepare to get dissa-fucking-pointed! I’m not gonna spoil it by going into specifics, but I just hope they end this pathetic fight in the next episode itself.

All of this is not the studio’s fault entirely. Kubo Tite’s lost it. All of this shit is straight from the manga. The only crime the studios are guilty of is the the 2 minute recap in addition to appalling animation. The latter I can forgive, given the current economic conditions.

Remember in the good old days when you used to eagerly anticipate every week for the next episode of Bleach. hitting F5 to see Lunar’s release? Repeating the preview at the end of episodes just to get another glimpse of the epicness in the next episode? The crazy, raw brilliance of Bleach? It’s gone now. All we do now is follow the series like zombies. Brain dead is what this series has become and what it is making us. I honestly hope that things pick up soon and the anime actually ends on a high note. But this all depends on Kubo Tite, so we’ll see I guess.

Otherwise just imagine that they all lived happily ever after when they rescued Rukia from Soul Society, and Bleach ended then.